Twin Beach Players’ Rumors

You’ll laugh until you ache, then laugh some more

By Michelle Steel

Shot in rehearsal, the New York apartment rises behind Lenny and Claire Ganz.

Four affluent couples gathered in a posh suburban residence for a dinner party to honor friends’ 10th anniversary celebration find mischief surrounding the event.
There are no servants: How can the party continue? The hostess is missing. So is the host — the deputy mayor of New York City — who has reportedly shot himself through the earlobe.
Couples arrive in succession. The first to arrive discover Charlie Brock’s injury and put him to bed. Their instinct is to help by concealing the liaisons that may have led Brock to attempt suicide. If that’s indeed what happened.
And where is his wife? The second couple to arrive wants to solve the mystery. The third couple, including Charlie’s analyst, wants it all to makes sense.
The fourth couple, with political ambitions, would rather not be at another cocktail party, especially one with implications.
Lots of physical comedy, speculation, rumors and other absent characters thicken the plot.
Still more comic complications arise as these upper class couples attempt to save their reputations by concealing the evening’s events from the local police and the media.
The plot resembles an old-fashioned game of telephone. As confusion and miscommunication mount, and the evening spins off into farcical hilarity.
The entire cast gives knee-slapping, side-splitting performances. Lenny Ganz, played by Jeff Larsen, is a hilarious natural. Lenny’s wife Claire, theatrically played Eva Miller, rounds out Lenny’s sarcasm.
The pace is frantically fast-paced, and the result just plain fun.
The stage is a living room with staircase, leading to two closed rooms with doors for slamming. A bag of Roll Gold pretzels serves admirably as a the main prop. Who cares? Simplicity works for Twin Beach Players’ Adult Company.